‘The Artist’ makes a loud noise at Golden Globes

The black-and-white silent film “The Artist” came away with the most prizes, with three wins, at the Golden Globes, but the show spread the love around among a broad range of films and TV shows.

Wins for “The Artist” included best musical or comedy and best actor in a musical or comedy for Jean Dujardin, while the family drama “The Descendants” claimed two awards, as best drama and dramatic actor for George Clooney.

The supporting-acting Globes went to Mr. Plummer as an elderly widower who comes out as gay in the father-son drama “Beginners” and Miss Spencer as a brassy housekeeper joining other black maids to share stories about life with their white employers in the 1960s Deep South tale “The Help.”

“With regard to domestics in this country, now and then, I think Dr. King said it best: ‘All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance.’ And I thank you for recognizing that with our film,” Miss Spencer said.

Mr. Scorsese won for the Paris adventure “Hugo.” It was the third directing Globe in the last 10 years for Mr. Scorsese, who previously won for “Gangs of New York” and “The Departed” and received the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement two years ago.

He won over a field of contenders that included Michel Hazanavicius, who had been considered by many in Hollywood as a favorite for his black-and-white silent film “The Artist.”

Miss Williams offered thanks for giving her the same award Monroe once won and joked that her young daughter put up with bedtime stories for six months spoken in Monroe’s voice.

“I consider myself a mother first and an actress second, so the person I most want to thank is my daughter, my little girl, whose bravery and exuberance is the example I take with me in my work and my life,” Miss Williams said.

Mr. Dujardin became the first star in a silent film to earn a major Hollywood prize since the early days of film. He won as a silent-era star whose career unravels amid the rise of talking pictures in the late 1920s.

It’s a breakout role in Hollywood for Mr. Dujardin, a star back home in France but little known to U.S. audiences previously. His French credits include Mr. Hazanavicius‘ two spy spoofs, “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies” and “OSS 117: Lost in Rio.”

“The Artist,” which led the Globes with six nominations, also won the musical-score prize for composer Ludovic Bource but lost out on three other awards, including the screenplay prize for Mr. Hazanavicius.

Woody Allen won the screenplay honor for his romantic fantasy “Midnight in Paris,” the filmmaker’s biggest hit in decades. Never a fan of movie awards, Mr. Allen was a no-show at the Globes, where he previously won the screenplay honor for 1985’s “The Purple Rose of Cairo.”